


Powerless Hakurei Tales 12: Undefined Fantastic Object

by Carmichael_Micaalus



Series: Powerless Hakurei Tales [13]
Category: Touhou Project
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 11:24:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16764187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carmichael_Micaalus/pseuds/Carmichael_Micaalus
Summary: Treasure Ships and Flying Saucers!  Something strange is going on in Gensokyo, and Reimu is determined to find out!  With the help of her friends, they give chase!  What will they find out?!





	Powerless Hakurei Tales 12: Undefined Fantastic Object

Undefined Fantastic Object

“I think it was over here…” Reimu murmured as she pushed a branch to the side. Laying on the ground was a red saucer with a dome; she recalled seeing sketches of such a thing in Patchouli’s library.

“That- mm.” Hourai’s eye winced as she looked at it. “It’s… not magic, but there’s a heavy polymorph effect on it. I can’t-” Her lip curled as its true form eluded her sight. “I can’t tell what it is, though.”

The shrine maiden quietly approached, glancing at her surroundings as her friend kept an eye on the unidentified object.

“At the very least,” the doll sighed, “it doesn’t seem to be danger-”

_POMPF!_

A cloud of smoke burst from the object, revealing a piece of wood covered in runes. Hourai’s eye twitched.

“...um.” She cleared her throat, still wincing involuntarily. “That- that’s holy. Very… _very_ holy.”

“Is it okay to-?”

“Yeah, you should be fine.” Hourai nodded as Reimu retrieved the item. “Just… don’t let Marisa or Mima touch it.”

“Hm…” Back at home, Mima stared at the piece of holy artifact on their dining room table. After a few moments, she gave a nod. “Yes, this will be the perfect piece of wood for a stake. We should be able to take out Remilia no problem with this!”

“Auntie, no!” She frowned up at the grinning lich. Mima simply cackled, ruffling her hair.

“Sorry kiddo; don’t know what it’s for.” Looking back at the piece, the lich held a hand over it. “Best guess is it’s probably a containment device; doesn’t have the right feel of danger for a weapon. Of course… there’s still the question of: is it for containing an object, or a creature?”

Walking into the room, Marisa ran her hand just above the artifact, creating a shower of sparks. She smirked before turning to her sister.

“Bet it's tied to that treasure ship people have seen flying about.” She nodded. “Could be part of the vault… or maybe it’s part of the device that kept it hidden.”

There was a knock on the door before it opened; Sanae gave the group a nod as she walked inside.

“Morning everyone; the doll said something about an incident?”

“Aye,” Mima nodded, “I’m assuming you’ve seen or heard rumors of the flying ship? Possibly treasure related?”

“I… yes?” The wind charmer frowned slightly, looking back and forth between the group. “Is… is that what this is about?”

“The incidents aren’t always ‘catastrophic, end of the world’ events like they sometimes have been in the past.” Marisa explained. “Sometimes it’s just weird shit… like too many flowers blooming.”

“That…” Sanae blinked. “That’s happened?”

“ _Yep._ ” Mima growled. “Stuffed up my head something fierce…”

“Huh. Well, at least something like that doesn’t sound difficult to sol…” Her words drifted off as she noticed the thousand yard stares of the magicians; Reimu averted her gaze.

In the ensuing silence, Sanae cleared her throat.

“So! I have seals, my gohei, and my spell cards; is there anything else I should have?”

“It’s always a good idea to have some medical supplies handy,” the shrine maiden smiled as she held up her bag, “but we should have enough for everyone.”

As Reimu readied herself for travel, the lich turned to the doll. “Speaking of, were you able to get ahold of Reisen?”

Hourai shook her head. “I was able to talk to Eirin; Reisen’s… not in a good state right now.”

“Hm,” she nodded in understanding, “unfortunate.”

“We’re going to visit her afterwards.” The shrine maiden smiled wistfully. “Doctor Yagokoro said it might help her to see us.”

“Arright then. Take care, kids.”

* * *

“Alright, so…” Sanae glanced at the magician, “how are we handling this?”

The three traveled through the morning sky, hot on the trail of a massive wooden ship. Reimu had moved to the back of the wooden broom as Marisa picked up speed, gaining on their target. Down below, Spring flowers bloomed all over Gensokyo, filling the land with colour.

“Well…” Marisa drawled. “We’re going to go over there, and if they’re nice, then Reimu will talk to them. If they’re not, then you and I will talk to them until they’re ready to talk to Reimu.”

The wind charmer frowned. “What counts as nice?”

“Typically the lack of an opening salvo.” Hourai shrugged. “But, I mean… it can depend.” The doll grinned at Sanae’s growing discontent. “Incidents are highly chaotic; no two are ever the same, ‘though the end result oftentimes is. So basically we feel it out each time.”

“You’ve never done it any different than that?”

A few.” The magician nodded. “I mean, one time some cabbage-headed bitch made my sister cry right off the bat-”

Sanae rolled her eyes and let out an irritated sigh.

“But yeah, there’s been a couple that took a number of days to solve. Heck, I think it was actually Alice that uncovered Suika a few years ago, when she was making non-stop parties…”

Thinking back to her first mission with her friend, Reimu placed her hand on Hourai and smiled. The doll pat her as she herself grinned, thinking of the same thing.

“But I mean… uh…”

Marisa found her train of thought derailing as a mouse youkai drifted close by, invading their personal space. In her hands were two bent pieces of metal, pointing in the direction of her travels.

“... _can I help you?_ ”

The magician's sharp tone shook the mouse out of her own little world, bringing her back to reality. “Yeah, any of you seen uh… a pagoda lying around?” She glanced about, remaining uncomfortably close to the group.

“I'm afraid not, Miss!” Reimu smiled, taking over the conversation; Marisa pulled them away from the intruder. “What did it look like?”

“Valuable and priceless.” Her face darkened as she watched the direction of her rods. “Such a tiny section of the world, and yet…”

“Hey, we’re losing it…” Sanae warned, watching the ship sail off in the distance. The mouse glanced her way.

“Losing what?”

“The treasure ship.”

Reimu watched her eyes move from her rods to the ship off in the distance before smirking.

“‘Treasure ship’; right.” She sighed. “Okay.”

“What do you know about it?” Marisa asked, her curiosity piqued; the interloper glared her way.

“What do _you_ know?” The mouse sneered.

“Well-” Before her sister could show the grey-haired mouse just what _exactly_ she knew with her mini-hakkero, Reimu pulled the broken artifact out of her bag. The mouse’s eyes went wide as the rods swung hard towards the shrine maiden, nearly falling from her hands. “-the ship appeared once we saw these falling about Gen-”

“That-!” Moving at lightning speeds, the mouse reached for the artifact.

_fwp-CHK!_

Her hand shook slightly, just above the rune-etched piece of wood. Pressing against the youkai's throat was Hourai’s butterfly knife; a red bead began to form on the underside of the blade.

“...don’t.” Hourai whispered. Saying nothing, the mouse slowly retracted her hand. Keeping her eyes locked on her opponent, Hourai spun the blade around and wiped it clean before closing it once more. Resting an arm on the handle, the doll leaned forward. “I don’t know who you think you are-”

“Perhaps belated introductions are in order, then.” Reimu interjected quietly. “This is Divinity Sanae Kochiya, wind charmer for the Moriya Shrine. This is my sister, Magister Marisa Kirisame. I am Reimu Hakurei, shrine maiden of the Aki Sisters at the Hakurei Shrine, and this is my guardian, Magister Hourai.”

“...Nazrin; douser.” The mouse nodded, rubbing the closing wound on her throat.

“-but don’t touch the kid.” Hourai finished.

“I- I wasn’t…” Nazrin muttered, shifting her rods back to both hands. “I just wanted to look at the- that thing is all.”

“ _You see with your eyes, not with your hands, mouse._ ” Hourai shot back; the blonde magician rolled her eyes at the phrase often uttered by their librarian friend.

Not bothering to respond, Nazrin quietly bounced the dousing rods in her hands as she sized the doll up from her safer distance. As her expression shifted to confidence, the pendant on her chest rose for a moment, pointing at Marisa. The rods came to a standstill as she factored in what she could feel from the magician, her expression reverting to neutral.

“...apologies.” Nazrin coughed. Reimu held out an arm, keeping Sanae at bay as she continued.

“I'm sorry we're unable to help you, Miss Nazrin.” She bowed. “The human village has a few second-hand shops; given your description of the pagoda you search for, you may wish to see if anyone has sold it there.”

“Thanks kid, but most human places don't typically like youkai.”

Marisa rolled her eyes. “If you don't act a fool, I doubt they'll care much. At any rate…” Turning the broom around, the magician faced the ship as Reimu waved. “...we’ll see you later.”

* * *

“So…” Sanae turned to the magician as they caught back up to where they had been before. “Why didn’t we knock out her teeth?”

Reimu blinked in surprise at the question. Still on the broom, she turned to face her friend, looking disturbed. “Be- because there wasn’t a reason to resort to any more violence than what we had already used.”

The wind charmer continued to frown. “...what violence?”

“Remember the part where I put a blade to her throat?” The doll inquired, a false smile rested on her face.

“...oh. Right.” The living good sighed, focusing on their target once more.

“...and when you wished to strike her for not acknowledging you.” The shrine maiden added softly, turning back towards the ship. Sanae could feel her face heat up; being called to account by the tiny girl had caught her off-guard.

“W- well,” she shrugged, “I mean-”

“It _hurts_ to be ignored… doesn’t it.”

Marisa glanced over her shoulder for a moment before turning her full attention to the ship, glad to be uninvolved with whatever made Reimu use such an edge in her quiet voice. The wind charmer wracked her brain, trying to figure out what the shrine maiden was alluding to. Peeking her way for a clue of some sort, Sanae saw Hourai lean out and point towards herself.

“U-um…” The wind charmer’s brain continued to stall, unsure of how to process the information given. The doll leaned back as Reimu looked at Sanae once again.

“How many people are in this group right now?”

“ Three? _Four_.” Sanae quickly corrected herself as the magician sighed; her face reignited as she babbled on. “There- there’s four. Four people. Not… not three. There are four lights, Sanae…”

“Hourai does a lot for our team, Sanae.” She motioned the wind charmer closer. “She keeps an eye on everything around us, keeping us safe. Her defenses also allow Marisa and anyone else to fight without having to worry about me getting hit or taken hostage.”

“Godsdamned oni…” The magician breathed.

“She’s saved my life too many times to count, both directly and indirectly.” Reimu continued on; despite her even tone, Sanae could see the pain in the shrine maiden’s eyes. “Hourai has told me it does not bother her when others overlook her, but it bothers _me_ to see people I trust treat her with disrespect, simply because of her size and appearance.”

“I-” The wind charmer sighed. “I’m sorry, Hourai. I just…” trying to find the words, she sighed once more, shaking her head. “We- we can talk about it later, after the incident. I’ll… I’ll try to be better about that, though.”

“...thank you.” The doll nodded.

“But to give you a better answer to your earlier question, we didn’t need to attack Miss Nazrin because she didn’t do anything wrong. She recognized whatever the artifact is-”

“Really sorry to interrupt,” Marisa spoke up, motioning to a number of broken fragments wrapped in magic, “but I have a couple more of those, if you could take them.”

“Oh! I’m sorry Marisa!” Leaning off of the broom, the shrine maiden reached out and grabbed the artifacts.

“But-” With the interruption in the explanation, Sanae had stewed over what her friend had said, “I mean, she could still be evil or something.”

“She’s not.” Reimu shook her head, opening her satchel with the other piece. “She-”

“How do you know?”

“Maybe if you let her finish…” Hourai mused aloud.

“She touched the artifact.” Reimu answered; Marisa and Hourai turned her way while Sanae stared blankly. “It didn’t harm her.”

“So…? It’s not hurting you, either- ack!” As the wind charmer reached for the artifact, her fingers slammed into Hourai’s shield. As she looked to snap at the doll, the words died on her lips when she saw the panicked look on the guardian’s face. “Ow… why did you-?”

“Holy shit, _don’t touch strange magic items!_ ” Hourai admonished, fear tempering her voice more than anger.

“W-well! I mean-!” Sanae sputtered, bristling; she had no plans to be chastised a second time so soon after the first. “You- you’re letting _Reimu_ hold them!”

“Look,” The doll sighed, giving her a flat stare, “you don't have the _slightest_ interest in the arcane, and we’re too busy flying, so it's going to take too long to explain why-”

“Hey…!” A voice called out. Looking back, the three could see a woman with short blue hair trailing after them, carrying an umbrella. Her purple umbrella was wide open, doing little for her aerodynamics.

“Oh!” Planting a hand on get sister's shoulder, the shrine maiden leaned close. “Marisa, slow down a bit, someone is trying to catch up to us.”

The magician gave a nod, keeping an eye on the ship close by.

“Who is that?” Sanae asked as the stranger came closer; the shrine maiden simply shrugged in response, eliciting a sigh from her friend.

“Hello!” Reimu gave a bow as they came within conversation range, the girl was clearly exhausted from trying to catch up to the group. “I’m very sorry about that! My name is Rei-”

“ _Boo!_ ”

“Ah!” Reimu flinched, steadying herself. The umbrella youkai began to giggle.

“I surprised you~”

“You did, indeed, Miss!” The shrine maiden smiled. “My name is Reimu; this is Magister Marisa and Divinity Kochiya! Are you after the ship as well?”

“Oh, no, I’m just trying to surprise people.” The blue-haired girl explained, twirling her umbrella. A large red tongue could be seen spinning with the umbrella. “That’s how I eat.”

“If…” Sanae clenched her teeth, “she’s not import-mlrphr!”

The broom lurched to the side as Marisa quickly leaned over to cover the wind charmer’s mouth.

“Hey uh…” The magician leaned closer to the glaring god. “Maybe… wait five, ten minutes before picking a fight again? Yeah?”

Prying Marisa's hand away from her mouth, Sanae looked at the two chattering away before turning back to the magician.

“I don't think she has anything to do with the ship, though.” She muttered, the wind keeping her voice from reaching the shrine maiden. The wind charmer could feel her spirits flag as the magician arched an eyebrow.

“Part of the reason why Reimu is surrounded by so many powerhouses is because she doesn't put a lot of stock in status, other than for the proper titles and greetings.” Marisa explained, motioning to the newcomer. “It doesn't matter to her if that girl's a god of typhoons or ‘only’ an artifact spirit, Reimu will spare time for her unless the girl or the situation gives a reason not to.”

“What about the incident, though?”

“It hasn't harmed anyone yet,” Marisa shrugged, “and nothing in our divinations revealed anything catastrophic, so if it takes awhile, then it takes awhile.”

Gritting her teeth, Sanae glanced over at the two once more; she could see Hourai was silently watching the youkai from the shrine maiden's shoulder, closed butterfly knife in hand.

“I just… don't get how we're supposed to succeed without any sort of structure to what we're doing.”

“It's all fluid.” The magician explained; she understood the look of frustration on the wind charmer’s face. “We do this by adapting. I know the Outside is different, but… you’ve mentioned you’ve done this kind of stuff out there, right?”

“Yes, but it was… very rare, and much more direct.” Sanae glanced down at the land underneath, drifting by as they continued to fly. “Youkai that remain out there try to stay hidden… until they’d get too hungry to kill quietly, or too gluttonous to think anyone could stop them. By then, usually someone would pray to have whatever killed their loved one dealt with, bringing it to our attention. After that, Divinity Yasaka would guide me to where I needed to go… and I’d kill it.”

“Well, it’s not that direct here.” Marisa shrugged. “Not anymore, anyway. With people here very aware of the youkai, it’s… changed their personalities at a base level, it seems. Patchouli could probably tell you more; her and Alice are doing some sort of study on it, I think.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Kind of curious what they found… well, if they can keep it condensed, anyway.”

“For what it’s worth though,” she glanced at the wind charmer, “this stuff can get on my nerves as well. But I’ve learned Reimu usually knows what she’s doing; and she’ll always do what she believes will benefit everyone.”

Spinning towards the two, Reimu smiled broadly. “Marisa, good news!”

Marisa turned her way, perking up. “We’re going home and getting fucked up?!”

The shrine maiden let out a snort. “No, that’s not it!”

“Losin’ interest, sis…” The magician looked down and sighed; Reimu shook her shoulder playfully.

“Listen! Miss Kogasa has agreed to tag along!”

Marisa briefly stared at the umbrella youkai before turning back to Reimu. “If this turns into another Flower View group…”

“N-no! She um…” the shrine maiden leaned in close, her voice a whisper. “She wants to scare whoever is on the ship.”

Shaking her head, Marisa laughed softly. “Arright, whatever… Sanae, you’re carrying the umbrella.”

“What?!” Her frown bounced back and forth between Kogasa and Marisa; the umbrella youkai shied away from the wind charmer. “Why?”

“‘Cause she clearly can’t keep up with the ship, and I’d like to try and get on deck before it boosts away again.”

“C-can't I ride with Reimu instead?” Kogasa squaked as Sanae approached. “She- she- she looks scary…”

“Don’t worry, Miss Kogasa!” Reimu smiled “She-”

“-doesn’t just _look_ scary…” Hourai finished; the umbrella youkai began to shake.

“-is very nice- _Hourai!_ ”

“Sorry, sorry…”

“Arright folks…” Marisa picked up speed as the wind charmer picked up Kogasa. “Let’s move.”

* * *

While no one from either shrine had much in the way of nautical knowledge, the group agreed the airship was quite large. With three masts and an enormous hull, the ship was indeed large. Large enough to hide a great deal of fairies for defenses. The tiny fae were standard fare for Marisa and Sanae, but they had to admit it was rare to fight the very sky itself.

“Fist…!” Hourai's voice rose in warning as the cloud's massive clenched hand flew towards them once more. Red light flashed as it clashed against her shield before breaking, buying the group the time needed to get out of the way. As Marisa and Reimu kept the attention of their misty opponent, Sanae struck the humanoid from their flank, sending them crashing onto the deck below.

Landing on the ship beside her, Marisa leveled her focus at the woman. She let out an irritated sigh as the spell card field collapsed.

“Are you alright, Miss?” Reimu called as she ran up to their opponent, medical bag in hand. “I’m very sorry about that; it’s much more difficult to talk over the winds up here.”

“What… what do you want?” The woman asked curtly, batting away the shrine maiden’s hands. “I suppose you’re after the treasure vault?”

“Well, we-”

“Sweet, it _is_ a treasure ship!” Marisa bumped fists with Sanae; the wind charmer unwrapped Kogasa’s arms from around her shoulders, letting the umbrella youkai down.

“At least we’ll get something for all this trouble, then.” Sanae nodded.

“We- we thought there might be treasure, yes-” Reimu nodded; the cloudbank spilled onto the ship as the shrine maiden spoke quickly, “but we weren’t planning to take it if people were here!”

Dusting herself off, the woman looked at the swirling cloud for a moment before turning her attention back to Reimu.

“Unzan says you’ve been collecting the fragments of the vault.”

“I…” Reimu’s words trailed off for a moment before comprehension dawned upon her face. “Oh, um… do you mean these?” Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out one of the many pieces the group had collected in their travels.

“Indeed.” The woman nodded. “I suppose that mouse turned out to be useless after all…”

“Ah, if you mean Miss Nazrin, I believe she was searching as well.” The shrine maiden smiled as she returned the piece of artifact to her bag. Seeing the opportunity to do so, Reimu introduced the group to the woman and her companion.

“Local defenders, I see…” The woman gave a bow. “I am Ichirin Kumoi, priest and defender of the Palanquin Ship. This is Unzan, my compatriot.”

“Well met, Paladin Kumoi!”

“So…” The magician started, putting a fist on her hip, “basically, _we’ve_ been collecting the treasure in the treasure ship, then?”

“If you wish to look at it that way.” Ichirin shrugged, paying Kogasa no heed as the umbrella youkai attempted to sneak behind her. “The vault certainly held treasures, but nothing like what you’re undoubtedly thinking. However, in order to-”

“Boo!”

“-free our sister, we need the vault reconstructed. But before that, we should get below deck and introduce you to the captain; she’ll want to know about the damages to the ship.”

“Boo…!”

Reimu bowed as the umbrella pouted. “An excellent idea, if you could lead the way, paladin.”

“Come on, why aren’t you scared?”

“Just ‘Sister’ is fine, Miss Hakurei. Also,” Ichirin glanced at Kogasa as she moved to the hold, “geta make poor shoes for sneaking, umbrella.”

Much like the deck, the hold of the Palanquin Ship was massive. The minimal level of supplies made it appear even more so, giving the various fairies places to hide. Snickers and giggles echoed throughout as they moved deeper in, quickly turning to cries and curses as they were repelled.

“Nice overactive defense ya got here.” Marisa muttered as she blazed a trail through the interference.

“Trust me, if I had a little more time, I would have swept them out…” Ichirin grit her teeth. Before the magician could respond, Reimu pointed ahead; another glowing UFO zipped towards them. As Marisa made quick work of it, a wave of giggling passed by.

“Nue?!” They could hear a voice further ahead, full of anger and restraint. “Nue, if it was you that broke that, you better fuckin’ tell me!” Coming through the mist was was a woman with short black hair, wearing a sailor uniform. In one hand she carried an anchor, while the other gripped a bottomless ladle. “I’m not… _mad_ , but _that was fucking important, you_ … hello.”

“Good morning!” Reimu bowed. “Are you the captain?”

“Yes, Captain Murasa.” She glanced over everyone before turning her attention to her crewmate. “New converts?”

“No, it turns out flying a ship in the air will attract attention.” The priest sighed. “And these yahoos caught up.”

Sanae slowly turned to Ichirin; the youkai priest coughed.

“These… defenders of Gensokyo.” She corrected herself; the captain flipped her anchor around, resting it on her shoulder.

“Need help, or-?”

“We’ve been collecting the fragments of the vault about Gensokyo!” Reimu quickly interjected, wishing to cut off the conversation before it could turn south. “We um… thought they might be connected to the ship, and it seems they are.”

Glancing back to the priest once more, Murasa smiled as Ichirin nodded. “Come on,” she motioned, turning around, “the vault belongs over here; hopefully it won’t take much to put back together again.”

* * *

“So, now that we’re not flying…”

Hourai took a deep breath before letting out a drawn-out sigh, pausing in her instructions to the shrine maiden. The doll looked up at the wind charmer, less than pleased about the interruption.

Near the focal point for the vault, Reimu had the pieces of the artifact spread out. As she placed the pieces, other parts became whole, giving everyone glimpses of what the restored item would ultimately look like.

“...you know how we often talk about Law, Chaos, Virtue, and Evil? Things like that?” She finally asked, realizing Sanae was not simply going to leave; the wind charmer nodded. “Outside, such things are concepts; intangible ideas. You won’t find Justice on the periodic table, nor is Law a subatomic particle. But to magic? To belief? They are real. The are important. They are _defining elements to a soul_ . And _that_ , can matter a lot when it comes to anything imbued with tremendous power.”

Motioning to Marisa, the magician removed one of her rings and tossed it to the wind charmer; Sanae winced as she caught it.

“The stronger the item, the more likely it is to ‘bend’ in a direction its users or creators bend, making it harder for others to use.” Hourai motioned to the ring as the wind charmer returned it. “Those under our roof lean towards Chaos - we tend to put the requirements of a solution over the wants and needs of society in problem solving. Yours is a house of Law - you put the wants and needs of society over possible solutions to a problem. Both have their benefits, both have their hindrances.”

“So,” Sanae pointed with her chin towards the broken artifact, “what’s this thing, then?”

“ _Holy._ ” The doll grimaced. “It’s on par with those iron chackram of your curse god.”

“...okay, that explains why Marisa can’t touch it, I guess, she’s not really devout-”

“I can’t touch it because my…” Marisa paused as she tried to think of a phrasing her sister would use, “worldviews do not align with those who use this thing.”

“And _I_ can’t touch it because popular belief on this plane is all youkai are inherently Evil.” The doll glowered as Reimu pat her legs. “So while I’m on this plane, I can’t touch anything incredibly holy that’s not from Makai. That’s why it was weird that it didn’t shock Nazrin, which-”

“So… are you saying I can’t touch it because I’m evil?” Sanae arched an eyebrow.

The doll sighed, rubbing her forehead with a hand.

“Sanae…” Reimu murmured.

“What? Am I wrong?”

Saying nothing, Hourai held out a hand towards one of the broken pieces. The wind charmer paused for a moment before reaching forward.

“Use the back of your hand, Sanae.” Marisa warned; she looked the magician’s way. “Electricity makes your muscles _contract_.”

“Wha- _gah!_ ” She pulled her hand back as blue arcs of lightning zapped her. She shook her hand as pain and numbness alternated within.

“ _What are you, Sanae?!_ ” Hourai demanded as Reimu handed her a medicinal salve. “You’re a _living god!_ A- living- god! You. Are. _Competition!_ ”

“Everything alright down here?” The captain asked as she came down below once more.

“Fine! Great!” The doll hollered. “Education in progress!”

“Uh-”

“We’re _learning!_ ”

“We should be done soon, Captain.” The shrine maiden nodded as she placed her medicine back in her bag. “Magisters Marisa and Hourai are making tremendous strides on the repairs.”

“Actually, after this one…” Marisa motioned to a piece; Reimu moved it into position, letting go as the others lifted up and moved closer. With a flash of light, the vault was once more whole. “We should be done.”

Murasa nodded as she looked over the ornate chest, appearing as it once was. A faint glow pulsed across the wood, causing the runes to fade in and out of sight. The captain reached towards the vault, only to stop a few inches away. A light smile graced her face as she let her hand drop, happy to find the familiar aura back around the restored artifact.

A heavy thud landed above their heads; the captain glanced up.

“Mm, sounds like Shou’s back.” She waved them on as she made her way back up. “Come on.”

Returning above deck, the group could see a massive woman holding a spear and a glowing pagoda at the prow of the ship, her back to them. Her clothing was cut for combat while her stance marked her regal nature.

Standing next to her was Nazrin; she glanced their way before turning back, murmuring a word to her. The woman turned their way, taking each in before smiling.

“Ah, so you’re the ones who have been assisting with Sister Hijiri’s recovery.” She nodded, slowly approaching. “You have my thanks. With the vault restored, the way to Makai should be opened momentarily. My n-”

“U-u-um!” Kogasa stammered; the woman turned her way. “D-did you say we’re going t-to M-M-Makai?” She gulped. “Th-the Demon Realm?”

“That’s right.”

Kogasa’s eyes darted between everyone.

“By-”

Her one-worded farewell was cut off as she opened her umbrella, flying off of the ship in a flash. Blinking, the short-haired tiger-striped blonde turned her attention back to the others.

“My name is Shou Toramaru, Avatar of Bishamonten.”

Hourai stared at the avatar as Reimu traded introductions with the woman. The sky began to glow with the light of the pagoda as the ship slipped through dimensional boundaries. Before she could get a word in, light died down, revealing an amethyst sky with deep violet clouds below. A shiver ran down her spine as she heard the wind charmer begin to cough.

“Sanae!” Hourai turned to her in a panic. “Your god’s blessing, quickly!”

A burst of wind surrounded the living god, the colour returning to her face. She looked around, frazzled.

“What was…” she shook her head. “Where are we?”

“Deep in Makai…” Hourai answered before Shou could respond; the doll flew close to the edge, looking over. “The miasma is _thick_ here…” she turned to the avatar, giving her a dark look. “You’re going to Hokkai, aren’t you?”

She nodded.

“That’s correct.” She walked back to the prow, the pagoda lighting the way. “The way out will only hold for so long, but we are close to our destination.”

“What-” Reimu could hear the growing frustration in Sanae’s voice, “-what does all of that _mean?_ ”

“We are in Makai, the Realm of Magic.” The shrine maiden took her hand, guiding her to the edge. She motioned out to the ill-coloured clouds below. “The realm was classified as a ‘Hell Plane’, meaning spells and divine orders of banishment could be directed to this plane; Hokkai is area where they are sent to.”

“So we’re near Hell’s prison.” The wind charmer’s shoulders slumped; Reimu shook her head.

“This isn’t actually a Plane of Hell. People live here, happily and of their own free will. It was marked as such by Makai’s aggressors. Unfortunately, changing planar classifications takes time.”

“You seem to be knowledgeable of this realm, shrine maiden.” Shou commented, standing with them once more.

“A number of my closest friends are from here, your holiness.” Reimu bowed. “That’s why my sister and I were unaffected by the miasma; we have charms. Had we more warning, we could have given Divinity Kochiya a heads up on the atmosphere of the realm.”

Her lips curled into a smile, picking up the message. “My apologies; I didn’t realize the captain had not informed you of our destination.”

The wind charmer continued to peer into the clouds below. “Why is the air like this, anyway?”

Reimu and Hourai exchanged looks as Marisa quietly stepped away. Seeing the nod from her friend, the shrine maiden continued in a low tone.

“The god of Makai created Makai. She _is_ Makai, but not _of_ Makai; do you understand what that means?”

“...she came from elsewhere.”

“Correct. She was-” Reimu paused as she considered her words. “She had been exiled from where she was born. She knew she could not return, and even if she could, there would be nothing for her there, so she created Makai.”

She looked out to the thick clouds of poison and death below, her eyes misty. “What she didn’t know was when she was exiled, her powers had also been corrupted; it wasn’t evident until she tried to create the first wave of life. What came forth were not people and animals, but twisted flesh and organs, screaming in agony. She-”

The ship was quiet as Reimu dried her eyes, trying her hardest to keep her emotions in check.

“...she ended their pain the only way she knew would work. And she wept… for a very long time.” She looked up at Sanae once more. “The miasma… is the remains from the first wave of life, their bodies and souls. They are very slow to enter the cycle of reincarnation, for all they experienced in life was excruciating pain.”

“Not to change the subject…” Hourai spoke up, tremors in her voice, “but we are about to enter Hokkai.”

“I believe this section is sealed off from the rest of Makai, right?” Murasa asked as the miasma gave way to walls of glowing runes. “No one should be here.”

“No, no residents are permitted here.” Hourai nodded. “But Hokkai does have defenses to keep the incarcerated here, and they are automated.”

“Sanae,” Marisa nodded, grabbing her broom, “port side.”

“Got it.”

Standing beside Shou, Reimu and Hourai watched as the magician and wind charmer fought off the defenses of the prison, keeping the ship safe as the avatar continued to guide them to their destination. Her guardian murmured a word of caution as the shrine maiden stared at the runes on the wall; the ensorcelled patterns designed to confuse invaders and obfuscate their true location.

“We’re here.”

The two returned to the ship in time to see the air in front of the ship begin to ripple, giving way to a lightless void.

The Palanquin Ship sailed forward silently.

“What’s happening?” The wind charmer kept her voice low as she watched the exchange between Hourai and Nazrin. Marisa rubbed her eyes; her sense of unrest had been growing ever since landing on the ship. While the incident had taken an odd turn, it had not been as hard as she had initially worried; most of the difficulty of it had been on her sister’s end than her own. However, her gut told her there was something unseen, something which still needed to be addressed.

“We’re… we’re breaking someone out of prison.” She mumbled. “But the wardens in this case are effectively the psychopomps. If we spring their friend and try to bolt, they’ll be able to just take her back if they wish to do so since the borders they work within are different from our own. And… considering we see Komachi and the Yamaxanadu on a regular basis, they’ll know sooner than later.”

“Okay…”

“If Reimu is the one who releases this ‘Sister Hijiri’ back into Gensokyo, her position would allow her to actually free their friend instead of just breaking her out. A ‘defender sealed her, so a defender can free her’, type of thing.”

“Makes sense.” Sanae nodded. “So what’s the problem?”

“Sounds like they were counting on Shou to do the same thing; she’s… entangled with Hijiri somehow, but it should still work… probably. Hourai’s hitting the ‘probably’ point pretty hard. Problem is, they don’t know Reimu all that well; they’ve only known her since we arrived. It’d be like if you had to entrust a stranger with Kanako’s… life…”

The knot in her stomach twisted harder. A touch from the avatar silenced the mouse.

“...very well, Hakurei.” Shou nodded. Floating up from the ship, Reimu gave her sister a smile before turning and heading further into the void. Holding the pagoda high, the avatar illuminated the way. Sanae and Marisa approached with the others, watching the shrine maiden stop a few dozen yards away.

“Mm…” They could hear a light groan as a body formed in front of Reimu. “Light… light shines upon this world once more.” Fully solidifying, they could see the voice belonged to a woman with long purple hair, turning blonde as it reached the ends. Marisa could hear excited gasps and tearful prayers from the others on the ship as they recognized their sister. “Tell me child, are you the one who freed me?”

“I assisted,” Reimu turned, holding out a hand to the Palanquin Ship, “with the help of others whom I believe you know.”

Looking at the ship, she covered her mouth; her violet eyes brimming with tears.

“Everyone…!” She gasped. Reimu smiled before bowing.

“My name is Reimu Hakurei, shrine maiden of the Aki Sisters. You are Sister Hijiri Byakuren?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

Reimu drifted closer, her face somber. “Why were you banished, Sister?”

“My… my temple helped youkai as well as humans.” Hijiri sighed. “We found youkai to be much the same as gods, beings formed of belief and worship.”

The magician’s found herself grinning at the twitch from the wind charmer.

“And so we treated them with compassion. However, such things were found to be unacceptable by the populace at large, and sought to seal us away.”

“How did you show compassion to the youkai?”

As her sister continued to talk to the priest, Marisa quietly glanced about. While Sanae fumed, Ichirin and Murasa stared at Hijiri in complete adoration. Her eyes drifting up to the tiger, the magician could feel another wave of anxiety crash over her. The avatar had been well practiced in her talks with the shrine maiden, but as she stared at the sister, her devotion was plainly evident.

“-we would likely reopen our temple upon returning to Gensokyo.” Hijiri continued, her words cutting through the magician’s thoughts. “We would like to reach out to those who could use the help.”

Alarm bells went off in Marisa’s head. Snapping her fingers, the magician summoned her broom; the movement caught the wind charmer’s attention.

“Hey, where are you-?”

“Follow!”

“Well Sister Byakuren,” Reimu smiled at Hijiri, “I believe you-” The shrine maiden paused as Hourai quickly tapped her cheek, pointing at the approaching magician. “Marisa? What’s wrong?”

“I…” She looked at Hijiri. Closer than before, she could feel arcane power crackle from the priest. She turned back to her sister, pulling her away. “I can’t allow this.”

Reimu placed a hand over Marisa’s as Sanae moved to keep the others at bay. “What’s wrong?”

“This- this isn’t simply ‘rescuing a friend’ anymore, Reimu.” Marisa fought to keep her adrenaline under control as she focused on Hijiri once more. “This is an entire religious _sect_ ; she’s the leader of their group. Look at all of them, think of what they could do if they’re lying. Ichirin and Unzan could hide the ship that only the tengu could reliably catch up to, and I think it’s safe to say their _avatar to a god of war_ is strong enough to arm wrestle Yuugi and give her a run for her money.”

“Those arms _are_ almost as thick as your waist…”Hourai commented quietly.

“It wouldn’t take long for them to charm the town-”

“Marisa.”

Reimu quiet call caused the magician to go silent; the others paused in their advancement. Taking Marisa’s hand in both of her own, the shrine maiden gave her gloved hand a kiss.

“What would it take…” She whispered, looking into her golden eyes, “for you to give her a chance?”

“I…”

“They wouldn’t the first major power we’ve witnessed coming to Gensokyo, and we were able to accept all the others.” The shrine maiden calmly reminded her. “So tell me what you need, so you’ll be okay with this. Your support is important, Marisa.”

Taking a deep breath, Marisa sighed.

“...I need to know if I can take her in battle.” She answered, her jaw set. “If she is evil, I need to know that I can cut off the head of the snake… er, sorry Sanae.”

“I’ll consider it payback on Hourai’s behalf.” The wind charmer muttered tersely.

“But… she’s been sealed for over a thousand years.” Reimu whispered. “She-”

“Won’t have spell cards.” Marisa nodded, sighing as she turned to the priest once more. “That’s why I didn’t-”

Holding a card to her lips, Hijiri stared back at the two. The magician slowly blinked as the priest moved her fingers, fanning out multiple spell cards.

“A few years ago, Makai’s god paid me a visit, and taught me how to make these.” She smiled, lowering the cards. “I thought it was to help occupy my time, but I suppose this was why.”

Marisa continued to stare.

A laugh escaped her lips.

“...alright then.” She smiled as the tension eased from her body; with a flip of her wrist, Marisa’s cards flew into her hand. “Let’s do this.”

The deck was illuminated with the glow of danmaku as the two clashed overhead, testing the limits of the spell card rules. The symphony of battle filled the air and followed the light into the void, leaving only the occupants of Hijiri’s cell as witnesses of the fight.

As the crew of the Palanquin Ship watched, Sanae glanced at the shrine maiden. Holding the wind charmer’s hand, Reimu watched the fight above; her face neutral. Making sure the others were not focusing on them, Sanae extended the air from Yasaka’s blessing to encompass her friends.

“Everything okay?” She asked, keeping their voices contained. Reimu continued to watch, keeping an eye on her sister. “I mean, I know you don’t like it when others fight, but…”

“I’m worried about her.” The shrine maiden responded. “When I looked at her, I realized she had been concerned about this incident for awhile, but… I didn’t even notice until then. She’s-”

Reimu paused as she glanced towards where they had entered; Sanae noticed Nazrin do the same. The mouse sighed and shook her head before turning her attention back to the fight.

“Well, at least she’s letting out some of her aggression now…” The wind charmer mumbled, instinctually flinching at the sound of a master spark going off.

“No,” Reimu shook her head, turning her attention back to the fight. “She’s holding back; when she-”

“I’ll admit I’m not as mystically-inclined as you,” Sanae interrupted, “but I’m fairly certain you can’t ‘hold back’ with a master spark, Reimu…”

She grinned as the shrine maiden shook with an unexpected giggle; Sanae could see the girl’s shoulders relax to a degree.

“I- I suppose you’re right on that.” Reimu nodded. Standing on her tiptoes, the shrine maiden leaned close and pointed. “What I mean is she’s testing her. If you watch, you can see she’s giving Sister Hijiri time to prepare her defenses before she opens up on her. She’s had plenty of opportunities to flank her, but she always makes sure Sister Hijiri has time to ready herself.”

The magician had a tendency to zip around, but with her friend’s aid, Sanae began to see what Reimu was spotting.

“I know Marisa isn’t the type to simply throw a fight, but she believes it’s more important to see how Sister Hijiri fights and defends over simply beating her right now. Not only that, but…”

Holding her sutra scroll wide open, Byakuren let loose a volley of danmaku, singeing Marisa’s skirt as she weaved through the patterns.

“...also how well she adapts. The sister herself said she was one of the main defenders of their old temple. And… I understand Marisa’s concern, but she’s letting the paranoia fester. I… I don’t know if my voice can reach her in time to do any good.”

“We may just need a few more runs with additional backup,” Hourai advised; Sanae nodded.

“That’s right; we’ll make sure she knows she’s not alone on this.”

Reimu smiled. “Thank you.”

With one final burst of light, Byakuren drifted from the air, staggering as she hit the deck of the ship. Magic and anger danced in Marisa’s golden eyes as she hopped off her broom; the magician glanced at the crew of the Palanquin before turning her attention back to her opponent.

“Arright…” she sighed as the others approached; rumbling was felt across the deck as the ship moved back into Hokkai, “here’s the deal: if you’re going to restart your religious temple thing, you need permission from some people smarter than I; Reimu will introduce you to them. Also-”

“Yeah…” Nazrin sighed. “The gate closed while you were fighting. Just uh… in case that has any effect on what your demands are.”

“Wait, what?” The wind charmer blinked. Reimu gave her a nod while she treated Marisa’s wounds. Uttering a word of magic, Hourai pointed heavensward and shot off a ball of crimson light.

“Also,” the magician continued, uninterested in the interruption, “you guys were talking about rehabilitating youkai. That’s cool, I love it. Not having to hunt down and kill people is _aces_ in my book. I also know, just like people, youkai can lie. If you find any that are going to you for easy meals, _I need you to report that shit to us_. Got it?”

“I believe we can abide by that, magister.” Hijiri bowed. “ _If_ they are found to be beyond redemption.”

“Just so long as ‘beyond redemption’ doesn’t mean ‘they already made a meal out of someone’.”

Murasa scratched the back of her head. “But uh… like your doll said before-”

Marisa glanced her way. “I’d advise you from making the mistake of thinking Hourai _belongs_ to anyone other than herself, Captain.”

“Ah, sorry; but uh… as she said before, no one is allowed here.” She looked up at the bursting flare. “No one will see us calling for anyone.”

“What I said is no _residents_ are allowed here.” Hourai corrected, watching the flare slowly drift down to the ship. “Which - sounds _real_ pedantic, I know, but you need to remember this is Makai. And in Makai, Grand Divinity Shinki… sees _all_.”

A wave of pressure slammed into Sanae as the flare let off one last flash, leaving a woman with light blue hair in its place. The wind charmer found herself falling to her knees as she stared with her mouth agape, overcome with awe and terror. In her peripheral vision, she could see Ichirin and Murasa prostrate themselves as she did, while Byakuren willingly kneeled. Both Shou and Marisa remained standing, using their spear and broom to lock themselves in place.

Reimu sprinted straight towards the woman, her arms wide open.

“Shinki…!”

The overgod's face brightened at the sight of the shrine maiden, catching the girl as she leapt. “Reimu!” She laughed, spinning the girl around. “It’s so good to see you sweetie! Hourai! Good to see you, too!”

“It’s been too long, Gran.” The doll whispered, hugging her deity.

Sanae continued to stare in confusion.

Carrying the shrine maiden, Shinki walked over to the others with a spring in her step; she gave the magician an excited wave before looking everyone over.

“Rise, please.”

Still in a daze, the wind charmer stood with the others as the pressure dissipated. The one who moments ago had the presence of a mountain stood a few inches shorter than the wind charmer herself, wrapped in a cozy maroon robe.

“I am Shinki; I welcome you all to Makai…” a small smile formed on her lips. “Although, I have a feeling you’re all on your way out.”

“Sorry, Shinki…” Reimu bumped her head against the overgod’s. “We’ll try to come back for a visit soon! And um…”

“We’ll try not to visit via the prison.” Hourai finished; Shinki giggled.

“Well I can assure you all, our cities are much nicer to visit!” Setting the shrine maiden down next to her sister, she turned to the priest who had been sealed. “Byakuren, I’m glad to see you have been freed. And please,” she pulled her close, hugging Hijiri tightly, “take care, alright?”

“I will.” She whispered, tears stinging her eyes. “Thank you, Grand Divinity.”

As Shinki let go, the crew took their chance to finally greet their lost priest. Sanae kept an eye on the overgod as she drifted over to Marisa once more, whispering into her ear. Her eyes went wide for a moment before giving a single nod, murmuring something under her breath.

“Well everyone,” Shinki smiled as she rose into the air, “I wish you all the best.”

With a clap of her hands, the Palanquin Ship was once more in the skies of Gensokyo. The late afternoon sun could be seen in the west, making its way towards the horizon. Taking stock of their surroundings and themselves, the crew turned to the shrine maiden. Squeezing her sister’s hand, Reimu stepped in front of Marisa.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say everyone would like some time to settle down.” She smiled. “The Hakurei Shrine usually has a party shortly after solving an incident; most likely tomorrow. It would be nice to see all of you there, so I could introduce you to the rest of my friends!”

“If Magister Marisa would like us to speak to some individuals before we do much, that sounds like it would be a prime opportunity to do so.” Shou nodded. “Having a day or so will let us take stock of what we have, and what went missing when the vault was… compromised.”

“If we happen to see any other pieces floating about, we’ll let you know.” Sanae nodded.

As the four readied themselves to leave, the avatar held out a hand. “While I realize you all have your own way of getting home, how about we give you a ride? It’ll help us locate where to go tomorrow as well.”

Reimu bowed. “That’d be greatly appreciated, your holiness!”

“Just… ‘Shou’ is fine. After what I just saw…” The avatar sighed. “Shou will do.”

  
  


Nue

“... after that, we found ourselves back in Gensokyo.”

Sitting on the edge of the branch shrine, the miniature aspects of Kanako and Suwako listened to their wind charmer's report on the incident. The other three had already gone inside to update Mima, granting Sanae some privacy as she spoke.

“It seems to be over, but I'm going to check in with them to be sure.”

“Well,” Kanako nodded, “despite some rough spots, it sounds as if your incident solving was a resounding-”

“A fucking _overgod!_ ” Suwako interrupted, throwing her arms up in disgust. “Of _all_ … the things… to just squat all over _my_ sanctified grounds-!”

Kanako slapped her forehead, gritting her teeth. “For the love of me, you fucking _deserved that, Suwako; stop bitching about it-_ ”

“Don’t tell _me_ what to do!”

Elbowing her companion back into the shrine, Kanako looked up at Sanae and smiled.

“Yes! Well, good job. It ah, might not be a bad idea to… wait a bit before coming home.”

The wind charmer shook her head and smiled. “Yes, Lady Yasaka.”

“At any rate, I’m going to go before she gets back up. Take care!”

With her patron disappearing back into the miniature shrine, Sanae walked back to the Hakurei Shrine. Entering the living quarters, she found Marisa sitting at the table with her mother, giving her own breakdown of the incident’s events. Close to them was Reimu, already asleep in a pile of Autumn Gods. Hourai gave the wind charmer a nod from the magician’s shoulder as she sat down.

“-an’ after that, they dropped us off.” Marisa sighed, blowing out a cloud of smoke. “I mean, honestly, it could have gone a hell of a lot worse, but…” she shrugged before taking another pull from her pipe.

“Nah, that was the right call.” The doll countered. “I’ll admit I got wrapped up in what Sister Hijiri was saying as well; she’s very charismatic. I’m pretty sure Reimu will agree if you talk to her about it.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about that; you did good.” Taking the pipe, Mima turned her attention to Sanae. “So… met Shinki, I heard.”

“Y-yes.” She nodded. “She… that was…”

Her brow pinched momentarily as she tried to think back to her encounter with the overgod; her memories began to blot as she tried to focus on them.

“If you can’t remember most of it, it’s probably for the best.” The lich commented as she passed the pipe to the wind charmer. “I don’t remember much of our own fight with her, but-”

“Your _what?_ ”

Leaning back, a wide grin split across Mima’s face. The doll hunched over on Marisa’s shoulder, shaking her head.

“Yeah, there was a… _misunderstanding_ a number of years ago; basically, Makai received permission to finally allow their people to leave without requiring a summoning contract, so they started coming to Gensokyo, ‘cause hey- already weird shit happening here, you know?”

“O-okay…” Sanae took her turn as the lich motioned to the pipe.

“Well… we thought we were being invaded. Like I said, a lot of it I don’t remember but we ended up fighting Shinki.”

“I think it’s safe to assume that since you’re still here, she showed you mercy…”

“Nah, we won.”

Sanae arched an eyebrow, clearly unamused.

“No… they did.” Hourai sighed. Turning her way, the magician took over.

“I remember she said something about she realized why we were there, and so she…” Marisa paused and scratched her chin. “Okay, you know how sometimes your gods will project themselves elsewhere, in… like, a secondary body?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, she basically did that: she made a version of herself that was as powerful as if she were visiting _our_ plane; like an avatar for herself. She knew we weren’t invading, so letting us have a battle we actually had a chance of getting a victory from would make us leave quicker and not come back, basically.”

“So did it- nope, there’s that ‘other shit happened’ look…” Sanae sighed at their faraway stares; the lich began to snicker.

“For another time.” A rare moment of lucidity crossed Mima’s eyes as she stared at the wind charmer; Sanae could feel her skin crawl. “So. What was your take on this incident?”

“It- it was… well.” She frowned as she tried to organize her thoughts; while she had just talked to her gods about the subject, she knew Mima saw the world through a much different lens than either of her patrons. Even after earning the lich’s respect, Sanae had been unable to get a good feel for her and her goals. “Annoying, I suppose.”

Still appearing to be lost in her own thoughts, a light smile graced Marisa’s face.

“Most of the time it felt like I was waiting for an attack that never came.” Glancing at the shrine maiden napping with her gods, her frown deepened. “I’m starting to understand why Marisa and Hourai are so cranky all the time, with how Reimu just runs right up to _everyone…_ ”

Smoke shot out of Mima’s nose with a snort; Marisa shook with quiet laughter.

“And for the _love of Yasaka_ , why did you not warn me about her guilt trips?!” She brought her glare to the two magicians, both snickering harder than before. “I swear, it was like finding the tiniest baby panda, picking it up, only to have it give you the saddest look and say ‘I’m disappointed in you.’ I mean, how am I even…?”

Mima’s laughter gave way to a fit of coughing as she slowly crumpled, laying on her side. Marisa reached over, slapping her on the back while handing her a water skin.

“Breathe, Ma! Breathe! I know you don’t actually gotta, but…”

“D- dam- dammit, Marisa…!” Recovering from her attack, Mima took a swig from her water skin before turning her attention back to Sanae. “So… she finally talked to you about your attitude towards Hourai, I take it?”

“Yes…”

“Good, good…”

Readying herself for another round of reprimanding, the wind charmer mentally flinched as the lich instead returned to the debriefing.

“At any rate, I realize it was a stressful trip for what undoubtedly felt like very little getting accomplished, but it seems everyone is in agreement that you helped immensely.” Sitting upright, Mima gave her a respectful nod. “ The Hakurei Shrine thanks you, Divinity Kochiya.”

“Ah.” The living god cleared her throat, returning the nod. “Well, if I helped more than I believed I did, then that does leave me feeling better about it.” Her mind on the incident once more, Sanae’s face darkened. “Not really a fan of what Sister Hijiri was preaching, but… it seems she’s not evil. Marisa said something about Patchouli, and… uh…”

The name completely evading her, wind charmer sighed as she snapped her fingers.

“The- the other elder wizard girl… blonde… puppets-” she pointed at Hourai as her own clue jogged her memory. “Her- her mother!”

“...Alice?” Marisa grinned.

“Yes! You mentioned they were researching youkai and changes… maybe they can tell me what she meant by them being the same as gods.” The living god shook her head at the thought. “Other than being utterly blasphemous…”

The only blonde magician in the house continued to stare with a grin. “What do you mean by ‘elder wizard’?”

“Didn’t you say they were like, a century old?” Once more, the wind charmer accepted the pipe from Mima.

“Patchouli is; Alice is our age.”

Flicking the lighter, Sanae held the pipe as she processed the information, unmoving. The flame danced for a moment before extinguishing, both the pipe and lighter lowering.

“...wait.” She finally blinked, ignoring the growing grins from the two magicians. “Wait. Alice… is your age… and Reimu’s.”

“Right, _our_ age.” Marisa nodded; the wind charmer looked at the doll.

“And… you’re Alice’s child.”

“She created me, yeah.”

Reviewing the information one more time, Sanae’s eyes narrowed.

“...then why the hell are you always calling Reimu ‘kid’?”

The three magicians fell over in laughter once more.

* * *

Sitting up from her god pile, Reimu stretched her arms high above her head as she yawned. Her head quickly cleared as she glanced about the others at the table before settling on the wind charmer.

“Ah, Sanae!” She smiled, patting Hourai as they sat on her shoulder. “How were Divinities Yasaka and Moriya? Are they- oh.” Her question stopped as she spotted the glazed over look on the wind charmer’s face.

“Let me guess:” Mima touched her temple, as if giving the subject serious thought. “Suwako’s pissed that the one that helped Hourai a year and a half ago turned out to be someone she can _never_ touch.”

“...yep.” Sanae breathed. “Divinity Yasaka suggested I stay here for a bit. I’ll admit, the… relative quiet is nice.”

Continuing to take the wind charmer in, the lich’s gaze softened. “...for what it’s worth, their fights have no malice. But if you ever tire of it, you are welcome to stay here to ride it out.”

Blinking, she looked down at the table. “Thank you.”

Giving a nod, Mima leaned over grabbed something from under the table. “At any rate, if you kids want to relax for awhile, that’s fine. But ah,” sitting upright once more, Mima set a large covered object on the table, “I have a feeling you’d like to finish this incident before you get _too_ relaxed.”

“What?” Sanae frowned. “We did complete it.”

Seeing the wind charmer’s wince at the lich’s growing grin, Reimu sighed to herself. Marisa reached over and tugged Mima’s sleeve.

“Ah, come on, Ma; she really helped today and she’s tired.”

“Arright, arright…” Resting her elbows on the table, Mima leaned forward. “Okay, let me walk you through this, stop me if you see where I’m going, got it?”

“O-okay.” Sitting alert, it was plain to see the living god’s mind was still foggy.

“You saw the ship, you went after it…” tiny illusions of the Palanquin ship and the group appeared over the table. “...you got on… you found they needed The Thing to do The Stuff. What was The Thing?”

“Um- the- the vault! The Vault of the treasure ship.”

“Right! Which you…?”

“Put- put together.”

“And they couldn’t do that, because…?”

“Oh! We had the pieces they were missing.”

“Which you had, because…?”

The shrine maiden smiled as Sanae thought about the incident; it was rare to see her friend and her aunt remain positive with one another for so long.

“The uh… the… what were they?” The wind charmer looked at Marisa briefly. “The… oh! The UFOs! The Flying Saucer… things!”

“Right! So… ” Mima pulled back the cover, revealing a green flying saucer, sealed in magic. “ _Where did they come from?_ ”

Sanae stared at the saucer, completely dumbfounded.

“I… _holy shit, I didn’t even think about that._ ”

“Hey, it happens.” The lich leaned back, content with how their lesson went. “It’s easy to overlook things of that nature; it’s also a strong sign of how easy it is to become desensitized to odd things happening.”

Still staring at the unidentified no-longer-flying object, Sanae began to laugh. “It- wow. _Wow._ I didn’t even question why there were little cartoonish UFOs flying about. It’s not like that’s an everyday occurrence either. What the hell.”

“Arright, Hourai, you ready?” Marisa asked as she sat up, watching the flying saucer locked in stasis.

“Yeah.” The doll jumped on the table, looking at the wind charmer. “Sanae, could you come over here and sit with Reimu?”

“Uh, sure.” She nodded, moving behind her small friend. “Any reason why?”

“It’ll be easier for you to protect her from anything that gets by us that way.” Hourai instructed as she stood on the far side of the saucer; Sanae held the shrine maiden tighter.

“Ah.” She sighed. “No pressure, then.”

Reimu watched as the three prepared to unveil the true form of the saucer.

“There’s a burst of smoke when they give way, either from damage or time…” Hourai murmured as the object began to spin at an incredibly slow speed.

“Could be a byproduct, could be hiding something easy to overlook in the confusion…” Mima nodded, unraveling her magic. “Table has been reinforced. Dear, if you could…”

Marisa nodded as she set a scroll down, magic dancing through the finished letters and completed spellforms. Leaning over the table, she held her mini-hakkero over the saucer. “Dropping the hammer; cover your eyes, Sanae.”

As the light from her blast cracked the hull of the saucer, glittering smoke began to form in slow motion; Mima moved her other hand towards the disintegrating form.

“Snake!” Reimu pointed.

“Where did- shit!” Hourai fought to keep her balance as the small garden snake zipped by, disappearing from sight as it moved beyond the dilated time field. “Was that- was that even slowed? No wonder we didn’t see them before!”

Mima glanced at her daughter.

“We got a signal.” She confirmed, her scroll smoldering away. Getting up from the table, she nodded at the others. “Let’s see where it went…”

* * *

“So… what you’re telling me is, they fight because they can?” Sanae asked as they flew through the clear night sky. Marisa continued to track the signal she was able to get from the mysterious snake which popped out of the saucer, finding themselves near where they had first encountered the Palanquin Ship.

“I talked to Divinities Shizuha and Minoriko about it a bit ago, when I noticed their… impromptu sparring sessions increasing.” Reimu nodded. “It most likely has to do with the fact that outside, there was very little they could have their own opinion on without fear of it leading to an issue which could cost them their lives.” She explained, sitting behind Marisa. “With so little faith, they couldn’t risk having a differing opinion on… well, anything. Fighting exhausts energy, and they needed to conserve.”

“I see…” The wind charmer nodded slowly, frowning as her mind returned to her past in the Outside.

“That said,” Hourai coughed, motioning to the approaching umbrella, “they don’t really have a reason for doing that in front of you all the time. It’s fine to argue and stuff, of course; you’ve seen _our_ family. But there’s no need for an audience on that shit.”

“I’m certain Divinity Yasaka would be willing to listen if you talked to her about it.” Reimu smiled, waving to Kogasa; the red-blue-eyed umbrella waved back. “They may simply not be aware of how often they’re acting as such in front of you.”

“Boo!”

“That, or their testing to see _when_ you’re going to ask them to stop.” Hourai nodded, giving the umbrella a passing glance, “I mean, I can kinda see Divinity Moriya doin’ that, to be honest.”

“Come on!” Kogasa pouted. “Why aren't you guys surprised?”

Staying on course, Marisa gave the umbrella a perplexed look. “We saw you approach, Kogasa. You… you waved to us.”

“Well yeah, but still!” Her frown gave way to a gasp as realization struck her. “Wait! Didn’t you guys go to the Makai-Hell?! How did you get out?!”

“No-no, Miss Tatara, Makai isn’t actually a- it’s not Hell.” Reimu smiled. “A friend of Avatar Toramaru had been imprisoned there, we helped free her.”

“Wait- hold on, hold on…” Sanae held out a hand, stopping them. As everyone stared at the wind charmer, she turned to the umbrella. “Where did you hear about Makai? It's not a name that gets thrown around a lot, unless you're at the Hakurei Shrine.”

There was a quiet swear from Marisa as the tracing spell failed, its target taking unexpected turns. The doll glanced to the side, feeling something approach.

“Oh, my new friend told me about it; I met her on the ship!” Kogasa smiled.

“Well, where is she now?”

Sanae felt slender hands rest on her shoulders. “She’s very close-”

The husky voice was interrupted by a quick elbow, causing them to cry in pain. Gohei in hand, Sanae adopted a combat stance as they turned to the newcomer. Covering her nose was a girl in a short black dress with equally short hair, riding a trident in the same way Marisa rode her broom. Six asymmetrical wings sprouting from her shoulders cringed as she continued to hold her nose, tears lining her eyes.

Although able to dodge Marisa’s grasp, Reimu was stopped by the wind charmer’s free arm.

“Don’t just go near her-!” She growled.

“You might have broken her nose, Sanae!” The shrine maiden pleaded.

“Yes, but-”

“Cripes Kogasa!” The newcomer moaned, drifting back. “I thought you said they were humans, not gorillas!”

“...I might not be done with her.”

“Arright, arright…” Marisa sighed. “We got our shocks and responses out of our system, does everyone want to talk now?”

There was a growl from both Sanae and the unidentified youkai as they stared at one another; Reimu moved in front of the wind charmer.

“I’m very sorry about that, Miss. My name is Reimu-”

“You’re the shrine maiden, and the wizard’s your sister.” She finished; the shrine maiden’s face lit up in surprise.

“Oh, that’s correct!”

“And the gorilla is- urk!” The youkai grit her teeth as Sanae grabbed her by the collar. “-as quick as she is strong…”

“Divinity Kochiya takes her job of protecting people very seriously, Miss.” Reimu cautioned.

“Let _go_ of my clothing.” The youkai stated indignantly, smoothing out the rumpled collar. “At any rate, I can tell by your little round-robin of introductions you want to know who I am, but too bad! You won’t be able to identify-”

“You’re a nue.” Marisa interrupted.

Nue clenched her eyes shut and sighed. Straightening her bow tie, she pointed at the magician.

“Okay, first of all, fuck you.” Her eyes narrowed as Marisa’s grin grew. “Second of all, WHAT?!”

“It was ah,” The magician motioned to the wind charmer, “when she beaned you in the nose; Ma taught us about the cries of the nue.”

“That’s right…!” Reimu nodded before gasping. “Wait, you must be Captain Murasa’s friend! I heard her calling your name when we met her!”

The trident-riding youkai faltered for a moment before regaining her aloof appearance. “Well, of course Minamitsu was wondering where I was, we’re good friends!”

“Well, she wasn’t so much calling for you as she was screaming at you.” Sanae corrected; Nue blinked. “I mean, she was stringing together a lot of swears, now that I think about it.”

“...oh.”

“Yeah, she was kind of pissed off…” Marisa nodded, ignoring her sister’s fidgeting.

“Oh yeah, super pissed.” The wind charmer confirmed, nodding; Nue’s shoulders slumped.

“Cool.” She sighed.

“She- she said she wasn’t mad!” Reimu exclaimed, trying to steer the conversation back on track. “And- and I’m sure with the vault repaired, she’ll be much happier to see you.”

“Yeah, you guys _did_ fix that, didn’t you…” Nue scratched her chin, looking at the shrine maiden, “and freed that Hijiri lady.”

“Yes! Er… do you have an issue with Sister Hijiri?”

“Hm? Nah, never met ‘er.” She waved a hand dismissively; Sanae and Marisa relaxed. “I met Minamitsu, Ichirin, and Unzan in Old Hell; we got released a few months ago. Dunno what happened, but… what?”

“ _Nothing._ ” Sanae growled, her face red. “If you didn’t have an issue with Hijiri, then why did you break the vault?”

Nue shrugged. “Seemed like it’d be fun. And… it was, so that’s good. But…” She leaned against the umbrella joining her on the trident. “...didn’t want to get Murasa _that_ mad, though…”

“I’m sure she’d forgive you if you talked to her about it!” Reimu insisted, taking the youkai’s hand in her own. “And Sister Hijiri cares a lot about youkai as well!”

Nue scoffed, pulled her hand back. “Hah! As if I care about their feelings-”

“I’m certain Miss Tatara would be able to find an owner their group.”

Marisa and Sanae frowned in confusion as Nue paused, visibly stunned.

“U-uh, well-” The newly defined youkai tore her gaze away from the shrine maiden, her face flushed. “I- I suppose I should… talk to Minamitsu…”

“If you’d like, we could tag al-”

“ _No,_ I don’t need your company!” She snapped, batting the smiling shrine maiden’s hands away.

“Very well.” Reimu bowed. “Both of you are invited to come to the Hakurei Shrine as well! We should be having a party tomorrow evening, you should um, be able to get some surprises in if you’d like.”

“Just no spills.” The magician cautioned with a grin. “Consider it part of the challenge.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Pulling Kogasa close, Nue shooed the others away with her free hand. “Anyway, I wasn’t jokin’ when I said I didn’t want help, so go on!”

“Alright, Miss Tatara, Miss Nue, we’ll-”

“Shoo…!”

“-see you later.”

* * *

“And so they left after that?” Reisen asked, sitting in her futon. The shrine maiden sat in her lap as she shared the events of the day with her friend. As she talked to the lunar rabbit, Marisa and Hourai were elsewhere in Eientei, helping Sanae pick up a new medical kit for her additional duties.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “I’m pretty sure they went to find the Palanquin Ship.”

“That’s good, that’s good…” Reisen murmured, thinking of what she had learned of the incident. “Do you know who your sister wanted them to talk to?”

“She wanted her to talk to Defender Kamishirasawa, since she’s likely to see the most disruption, given she’s always in town. She also wanted her to talk to Sage Yakumo, just in case it was _her_ decision to have Sister Hijri sealed.”

The lunar rabbit mulled over the information. “Yeah, that probably _would_ be how Yukari would be rid of someone; she doesn’t like being directly involved. And she’s right about Keine; all of this kind of stuff with affect her the most. But at the same time… she’s also a prime example of how youkai _can_ be helpful to humans.”

“Mm.” Reimu nodded. “I believe she was also going to have her talk to Divinity Yasaka as well; she’s one of the major powers behind the humans in Gensokyo, but I think that’s more of a formality than the others.”

“Well,” Reisen smiled as she ruffled the shrine maiden’s hair, “I’m glad it went alright for you guys today. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to join you this time, but-”

The lunar rabbit found herself interrupted with a hug.

“You need to take care of yourself.” She reprimanded softly. “Don’t apologize for that.” Reisen let out a laugh, returning the embrace.

“...thank you. They… had to sedate me yesterday. Bit of a, a- breakthrough slash breakdown.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Well,” she shrugged, “it made for a good therapy session today, so at least there’s that.” Pulling her closer, Reisen rest her head against the shrine maiden. “I’ll admit, I’m still kind of shaken up, but at the same time I feel almost… more sure of myself.”

Reisen’s ear twitched as she picked up footfalls stopping just outside of the door.

“Would you like me to stop by tomorrow?” Reimu asked, pulling her attention back.

“If you have the time… I know you have a lot of prep work for the party.” She went quiet as she thought about the shrine maiden’s question. “But… I don’t think I’ll be in shape to go to the party though, so I _would_ like to see you again.”

“Then I’ll be certain to make the time.” Giving her one last squeeze before letting go, Reimu stood. “I’ll let you get some sleep now.”

“Alright.” The lunar rabbit gave her a nod, watching her walk to the door. Reimu turned and smiled.

“Have a good night, Reisen. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

“You as well.” She gave a wave to the others peeking in the opening door. “Safe travels.”


End file.
